Vacation – Page 179 – M&I / GBMINI

Florida with Kate & Chris

Posted on June 3, 2005February 19, 2017 by Ian C.

As I mentioned last week, we had an invite from Kate & Chris in Florida to head down and share their rented “villa” with them for a few days – and what a fabulous place it was!
They got a great last minute deal, giving them four bedrooms so ample room for us to visit too – the place was really nicely designed, in a great location (Cape Coral, on a canal), lots of space, pool and hot tub, and luckily complete with amazing weather!

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A boat was optionally included, and Kate & Chris took full advantage – so did Margaret; though I was less keen I did come on a couple of trips. On the last day we took a (very long) boat trip out to Cabbage Key for lunch – got some speed up on that boat, when not avoiding Dolphins, Manatees, or shallows!

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A road trip to nearby Sanibel left us all very hot, though the ocean temporarily helped with cooling off …

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Other highlights included outlet shopping(!), a BBQ, baby frogs, and lots and lots of relaxation, interspersed with the occasional sound of Thunder (a powerful speed boat which passed the home a couple of times each day, its massive engines rumbling so much that the building shook!)

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And hints of Manatees in the water behind the house:

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THANK YOU Kate & Chris – really enjoyed the break; looking forward to doing it again 🙂

Las Vegas 2005: The End

Posted on March 28, 2005February 19, 2017 by Ian C.

We spent some time at the Bellagio pool, but it was too windy & hot to stay long …

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We spent more time touring the strip, including trying to see what the new Wynn hotel would be like:

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But eventually, we had to leave and head back to Massachusetts …

Las Vegas 2005: Back to Las Vegas

Posted on March 26, 2005February 19, 2017 by Ian C.

We left the cabin and headed past Lake Arrowhead – the plan was to drive down the “other side” of the mountain and head for Las Vegas; however, recent heavy rains apparently washed away many roads (see “The Rim Of The World Highway” and a Google Map). So we were forced to turn around and retrace our steps back the way we came – but at least we did finally get on the highway back to Las Vegas:

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The highway looked basically like that the whole way – very distant visibility but not much to see. When we did see something in the distance it would take an amazingly long time to reach … but we finally got close enough to Las Vegas to see the mega-hotels in the distance:

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For our return stay in Las Vegas, we will be at the Bellagio – still my very favourite hotel! Of course I chose a room with great views out to the Bellagio Lake, and the strip hotels; we spent the rest of the day admiring views from the room:

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An evening walk along the strip took us past Caesars Palace and the Venetian, to the “volcano” at the Mirage hotel; then heading back to our room, a final stop to watch the Bellagio fountains from ground level:

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